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This all started as a hobby that got out of control,” says Doug Maffucci, looking around his office at the Atlantic Brewing Company, on the second floor of an old farm building near the Mount Desert Island village of Town Hill. It’s a quiet spot, surrounded by trees and fields, on the side of a road less traveled than the island’s busy tourist thoroughfares. There’s a bed against the wall, where weary brewers on 20-hour work shifts can catch a few winks.
From its one-barrel-at-a-time beginnings in a Bar Harbor pub, the Atlantic Brewing Company now produces several brands of premium beverage, including Maine’s original blueberry ale. In the summer and fall, Maffucci, the company’s founder and CEO, opens up the converted farm to visitors, providing guided tours of the brewery, barbecue dinners, and what he likes to call the most family-friendly beer garden this side of the Atlantic.
A tall, lean man who keeps in shape by bicycling around the island, Maffucci touts moderate consumption of beer as part of a healthy lifestyle.
“I went to a place like this in Oxford, England,” he says. “The kids can
see it being made, and can sit with their parents while they enjoy a beer with their meal. It’s not a dark bar in a corner. It reflects more of a European attitude, and it creates a much healthier adult.”
The setup of the brewery is influenced by a method Maffucci observed at a brewery in Belgium, a small country that, like Maffucci’s barn, suffers from space constraints. The raw grain is stored on a second-floor catwalk, and vats and boilers are arranged in a spiral layout that culminates on the first floor. The entire building is wrapped in reflective insulation, which keeps it cool in the summer and eliminates the need for refrigerating the beer prior to shipping. Though Maffucci says that 80% of the company’s sales occur within 60 miles of the brewery, Atlantic’s products can be found in specialty shops in 22 states.
Originally from upstate New York, Maffucci was drawn to Mount Desert Island by his love of cycling and the outdoors. He and fellow Colby College graduate Jon Hubbard decided to start a bicycle rental business in Bar Harbor. “It was a case of being in the right place at the right time,” Maffucci recalls. “There were no multispeed bike rentals on the island, and, of course, you’ve got all these carriage roads all over the park.”
So how does one go from bicycles to beer? In 1988, Maffucci and Hubbard sold their business and purchased a pub in downtown Bar Harbor. “We intended to fix up the building and find someone who wanted to open a restaurant,” Maffucci explains. “But restaurant permits are hard to get. We started up a hamburger joint just to keep it open for a year, and we sold quirky beers—no major brands. And with the arrogance of youth, we thought it might be fun to make our own beer.”
Soon, other restaurants in town began asking to serve the local brew. “We totally underestimated demand,” Maffucci says. “We were responding to the market rather than trying to create a market.”
And then came the blueberries.
“This picker pulled up to the restaurant with a truck full of berries,” Maffucci says. “He was driving south and needed money. We bought 400 pounds from him, and we made some desserts, but we still had a lot left over. Then we thought, why not put them in the beer? We put 300 pounds of blueberries through a Cuisinart, and somehow we didn’t burn out the motor. It was an instant hit.”
Today, Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale, the nation’s first such ale, is still made with fresh blueberries and is the company’s bestselling product.
Always ready for a new hobby, Maffucci is now using part of the farm to launch a vineyard and winery. Last year raccoons decimated the grape harvest, but Maffucci takes the long view. “The wine thing has been our pet project for the last three years,” he says. “It usually takes four or five years to get a winery up and running. We’re still cutting our teeth.”
From its one-barrel-at-a-time beginnings in a Bar Harbor pub, the Atlantic Brewing Company now produces several brands of premium beverage, including Maine’s original blueberry ale. In the summer and fall, Maffucci, the company’s founder and CEO, opens up the converted farm to visitors, providing guided tours of the brewery, barbecue dinners, and what he likes to call the most family-friendly beer garden this side of the Atlantic.
A tall, lean man who keeps in shape by bicycling around the island, Maffucci touts moderate consumption of beer as part of a healthy lifestyle.
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“I went to a place like this in Oxford, England,” he says. “The kids can
see it being made, and can sit with their parents while they enjoy a beer with their meal. It’s not a dark bar in a corner. It reflects more of a European attitude, and it creates a much healthier adult.”
The setup of the brewery is influenced by a method Maffucci observed at a brewery in Belgium, a small country that, like Maffucci’s barn, suffers from space constraints. The raw grain is stored on a second-floor catwalk, and vats and boilers are arranged in a spiral layout that culminates on the first floor. The entire building is wrapped in reflective insulation, which keeps it cool in the summer and eliminates the need for refrigerating the beer prior to shipping. Though Maffucci says that 80% of the company’s sales occur within 60 miles of the brewery, Atlantic’s products can be found in specialty shops in 22 states.
Originally from upstate New York, Maffucci was drawn to Mount Desert Island by his love of cycling and the outdoors. He and fellow Colby College graduate Jon Hubbard decided to start a bicycle rental business in Bar Harbor. “It was a case of being in the right place at the right time,” Maffucci recalls. “There were no multispeed bike rentals on the island, and, of course, you’ve got all these carriage roads all over the park.”
So how does one go from bicycles to beer? In 1988, Maffucci and Hubbard sold their business and purchased a pub in downtown Bar Harbor. “We intended to fix up the building and find someone who wanted to open a restaurant,” Maffucci explains. “But restaurant permits are hard to get. We started up a hamburger joint just to keep it open for a year, and we sold quirky beers—no major brands. And with the arrogance of youth, we thought it might be fun to make our own beer.”
Soon, other restaurants in town began asking to serve the local brew. “We totally underestimated demand,” Maffucci says. “We were responding to the market rather than trying to create a market.”
And then came the blueberries.
“This picker pulled up to the restaurant with a truck full of berries,” Maffucci says. “He was driving south and needed money. We bought 400 pounds from him, and we made some desserts, but we still had a lot left over. Then we thought, why not put them in the beer? We put 300 pounds of blueberries through a Cuisinart, and somehow we didn’t burn out the motor. It was an instant hit.”
Today, Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale, the nation’s first such ale, is still made with fresh blueberries and is the company’s bestselling product.
Always ready for a new hobby, Maffucci is now using part of the farm to launch a vineyard and winery. Last year raccoons decimated the grape harvest, but Maffucci takes the long view. “The wine thing has been our pet project for the last three years,” he says. “It usually takes four or five years to get a winery up and running. We’re still cutting our teeth.”
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